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The Deacon's Bench

These crazy youngsters. You do your best to raise a non-believing secular humanist and he just turns around and goes all Presbyterian on you: In April, Bob Sweeney’s son, Ryan, 13, suddenly announced he wanted to start going to church. While Mr. Sweeney had been quite religious once — in his 20s he’d taken an…

That’s the word writer Louie Verrechio uses to characterize some of what’s happening over at the Catholic News Service (CNS), the operation owned and managed by the USCCB. Verrechio takes aim, and fires with both barrels. An excerpt: Catholic News Service has long been viewed with a suspicious eye by “conservative” Catholic groups, but any…

Who’d a thunk? An interesting sociological trend, from The Tidings, the archdiocesan paper for Los Angeles: If you have driven north on highway 101 anytime during the past five years, you have certainly noticed the proliferation of vineyards – and winemakers – that line the highway in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Wine…

If you’ve ever had a missionary ring your doorbell, you might be surprised to learn that some Mormons are now turning that skill into a second career during these tough economic times: Six days a week, in fair weather and foul, two-dozen door-to-door salesmen, all of whom live clustered together in an apartment complex in…

For those who missed it, get a load of this: Lino Rulli, working out with the founder of the Hard As Nails youth ministry, Justin Fatica. From the daily Catholic news show “Currents.” Enjoy.

In the middle of ordination season, we should not forget it’s also the middle of anniversaries of ordination season. And Fr. James Martin is having fond memories of his own, a decade ago: Ten years ago today (that is, June 12, 1999) along with five other good Jesuit friends (they’re good Jesuits and good friends),…

This guy. From yesterday’s installation of Robert Carlson as the new Archbishop of St. Louis.

I still remember when wedding videos were a novelty. But now, it seems, more and more people are getting into the business of birth videos — and sharing them with anyone and everyone, via YouTube. The New York Times reports: By her eighth month of pregnancy, Rebecca Sloan, a 35-year-old biologist living in Mountain View,…

A couple weeks ago, I posted the item about Boston’s new deaf priest. And recently the Religion News Service caught up with Fr. Shawn Carey to ask him a few questions about his singular vocation. They exchanged some Q&A emails with him. An excerpt: Q: What was it like growing up as a deaf Catholic?…

Can’t wait for the Year for Priests to get started? The USCCB is one step ahead of you: The U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations has set up a Web site to mark the Year for Priests, a worldwide celebration from June 19 of this year to June 19, 2010. Pope Benedict…
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